McElwain excited to further Florida Gators brand

He arrived in a private jet with orange and blue stripes down the side. His family exited the plane first and got a taste of what life is going to be like now.

Then, the Florida Gators new head coach Jim McElwain stepped off the plane and in Gainesville and was greeted by quite a different scene than three years ago when he was introduced in Fort. Collins, Colorado. Dazzlers and cheerleaders lined his path from the jet to the terminal. Inside a contingent of fans waited to greet him and welcome him to the Gator Nation.

Those hands he shook on Thursday at Gainesville Regional Airport were previously occupied with pitchforks, helping to create the job opening that he fills now. McElwain — who prefers to be called simply, Mac — know the opportunity that sits in front of him. “I grew up in Montana. This is things that you dream about,” he said.

He also knows the potential pitfalls that come along with such a huge opportunity. The pitfalls that the pressure of running a brand like Florida football proved too much for his predecessor but is a task that the new coach is ready and eager to take on.

“Pressure man, that’s awesome. Right? That’s why we do this,” he said. “I mean the one thing that I love is pressure. I never look at it as feeling the pressure. I always look at it as applying the pressure and I’m excited about that part of it. If there’s no pressure, why wake up in the morning?”

The vetting process that Athletic Director Jeremy Foley went through before meeting with Mac was exhaustive. Foley met or spoke with more than 25 people to get a sense of who McElwain was before his much-publicized trip to Fort Collins, Colorado.

“The thing he told me the first time I talked to him,” Foley recalled. “ ‘Opportunities like this don’t come around very often. Hopefully this one doesn’t come around for a long, long time’. He said, ‘My dad told me there are certain opportunities in life that come around and if they’re intriguing, you need to go get it.’ Well, he went and got it. We went to get him and he went to get us, too. It’s obviously very important to him to be here.”

One not need to look far or long to see how badly McElwain wanted to be the head coach at Florida. The biggest contention Foley and Mac faced in getting him to Gainesville was the $7.5 million dollar buyout that was attached to his contract with Colorado State.

The Gators were able to strike a deal but it was Mac’s willingness to put up his own money — $2 million dollars worth — to help finalize the deal.

“I’ve chased coaches before I’ve had no chance to get and I didn’t know it until it came time to pull the trigger and they couldn’t pull it,” Foley said.

There was no hesitation on Mac’s part. He didn’t even look down the barrel before slamming down on the trigger. He wanted to be the head coach at Florida. He saw the opportunity that was sitting there in front of him and he jumped at it without a second thought.

“I’ve just got to tell you this; this is an honor, I’m excited. I sat on the other sideline in that Swamp one day, playing against these guys,” said Mac. “When you think of the Ring of Honor, when you think about the great players, you think about the great games, you think about the history and tradition that is Gator football, I cannot tell you how proud I am to be part of that.”

Mac stood in front of cameras answering questions for 38 minutes. He was funny, affable, brought up his family who all made the trip to watch this big day in person. The family dog, Claire-a-bell, was brought up and the coach who was brimming with confidence even professed he could win football games with Claire-a-bell at quarterback.

That’s good. He’ll need that confidence as he hits the road this coming week to recruit.

McElwain is 1-0 with the Gators after the voice of the SEC Paul Finebaum declared on Twitter that he had “won the press conference.” He’ll need to go 2-0 by finishing strong on signing day.

McElwain was able to go to one of the worst football programs in the entire country three years ago and lead them to 10 wins this year knows that the cupboard isn’t bare. Will Muschamp left him a roster loaded with talent and this makeover won’t be nearly as drastic as the last one he performed.

This isn’t Fort Collins though. “Is this how they always welcome you?” Mac said when he stepped off the plane on Friday.

Yes, coach. This is how they welcome you but if you really want to see how passionate a fan base can be just start losing football games.

“The first time I was actually in this state recruiting, that’s when I knew I wanted to be a Gator,” he said.

Mac was familiar with the history of the program and he’s ready to leave his thumbprint on a long history of winning in Gainesville.